There was just as much suffering for the Harvard men's basketball team this season. I was the public-address announcer for three years, and I became increasingly impressed with Dan Clemente, who should have been the Ivy League Player of the Year in his senior season. As a sophomore, Clemente was supposed to miss the entire season with an ankle injury. But he came off the bench at the end of the first game at Boston College, hitting several key jumpers en route to a dramatic upset victory. As a junior, Clemente came back from eye surgery to finish off the season and make the All-Ivy First Team.
Clemente was finally healthy as a senior, and it looked like Harvard actually had a chance to win the Ivy League for the first time ever. In the first meeting against defending champion Penn, Clemente erupted for 29 points as the Crimson became the first Ivy team in two years to beat the Quakers. Clemente did not have his usual shooting touch the following night against Princeton, but that didn't stop him from scoring when it counted. He took the game into his own hands in the final minute, knocking down a turnaround jumper with 7.4 seconds left to give Harvard a one-point lead. But Kyle Wente's one-handed three-pointer at the buzzer saved the game for Princeton, which went on to win the Ivy title.
Dan Clemente and Tara Dunn both developed into hard-nosed players in the last four years, but their college careers ended, just like my intramural crew season, in defeat. They worked their butts off, and turned in some outstanding performances, but in the final analysis they came up a little short. I have no problems with coming up short -- indeed, those of you who have stood next to me know how short I really am.
Losing is not a pleasant subject to address in my final column for The Crimson. But it conveys what athletes take away from participating in competitive sports. Winning is just a big celebration, like the one we have been having for all of Commencement Week. But losing brings out the emotion, desire and commitment that athletes have to their team and to their sport. I'm grateful to Dan Clemente, Tara Dunn and the rest of the Harvard athletes I have watched for the last four years. I have seen how you win, I have seen how you lose and I have learned to appreciate commitment more than victory or defeat.